Time is relative.

She doesn’t know how long she’s been laying like that, head pressed against stagnant chest, hoping—praying, even—for his heart to beat once more.

Eons? An eternity? Or maybe mere minutes?

Never subjected to the methodical madness of Father Time, immortals were never good at keeping track of time.

Chin upon chiseled chest, Yoona weakly turns to look up only to be rewarded by the saintly image that had always been Seo. Spilled rouge that once tainted his face had long been washed away by heaven’s tears, cleansing him of all things filthy, foul, and evil—everything that is her.

Pure. He was pure again…and he was beautiful. If it were not for the marks on his body that she had inflicted on impulse—out of love and wrath alike—he would still be the image of perfection that even the gods themselves once envied.

But the gods are cruel; how could they grant her happiness in the form of absolute innocence only to have her love ruin him?

Parting the gloomy veil of sky and sorrow alike, soldiers of light descend down in battalions, armed and ready to purge the demon that had defiled their purest kin along with the repugnant hybrid that sleeps within her belly. With lethal grace, the sudden entrance of such a massive force of ethereal beings into the mortal realm was enough to disrupt the fragile world, creating cyclones as they sliced the air with insentient power.

Raising her head, she can’t help but squint her eyes, slightly blinded by divine brilliance. Especially amongst the dull earthly pastel which paints this mortal realm, their fatal sheen shone far brighter than any wonder of this world.

With one last parting look at her departed love, she wills herself on shaky feet, standing proud not as a lonely and wounded widow, but as the ruling dark princess of the Underworld. Head raised, she looks up to lock eyes with every single reaper, her gaze suddenly hardened by unwavering conviction.

Halting their advance in mid-air, even the mightiest seraphs prepares themselves at her silent act of retaliation, bracing themselves even further when she summons her sword with a quick flick of the wrist.

Out of the smoldering smog, Ira appears, already nestled in the capable hands of its master as it foreshadows yet even more death to come, for every time she is called upon, at least one soul is stripped of its existence.

Much like Yoona, she is thin and sleek, her appearance never as daunting as her aura. Instinctively, Ira shifts from solid darkness to fuming red, burning brightly as her heat reflects the intensity of her master’s resolve, preparing to consume all with the deadliest sin she is aptly named after—Wrath.

At the sight of steaming blade and wielder alike, the angelic warriors apprehensively wait for their leader to give his orders. Taeyeon at the forefront stares down at the enemy in wordless contempt, still suffering from the wounds his own brother inflicted for the sake of such a creature. But a glimpse of the unmoving body that lay behind her stirs a pain far greater than his physical injuries.

Taeyeon grimly inspects Seo’s desecrated form; eternally, he rests beneath his wrecked wings, once white as snow now weathered and plucked, black as coal.

The fate of a fallen.

With the sins Seo committed, he might as well become a demon in the next life. If they were to cross paths again--as angel and demon--he will have to destroy what has become of his brother; a duty as archangel and brother, alike. Seo would have wanted that.

But did Taeyeon possess the will to kill his own brother by his own hands?

If Seo could raise his sword against him, surely, he can do it too.

Taeyeon’s wound stings with sudden vigor at the thought, instantly reminded of his brother’s betrayal.

And this seductress is the culprit.

He stares Yoona down, shooting glares of silent fury while she did the same; mum but utterly composed.

The calm before the storm.

Though his tenacity is an unstoppable typhoon, her rage is an uncontrollable wildfire.

No doubt, Yoona would bring hell upon this realm to avenge the death of Seo. Even if it meant the destruction of Earth, she would blindly rip apart any soul which comes her way, bathing in the blood of foe and friend alike to quench her thirst for vengeance…




The old Yoona would.




To his surprise, she throws her sword down, harming no one but Mother Earth as she impales Ira deep within the fleshy ground as a sign of conditional submission.

No more; she will not succumb to the evil coursing in her blood.

In his honor, she will try his way: To move with words rather than swords.

“What more do you need of me? You have already murdered my soul mate…your own kin”, Yoona wearily tells them, tired of holding back a surge of emotions so strong it threatened to consume all beginning with her.

After overcoming the initial shock of the demon’s sudden civility, an angel answers, “No kin of ours would ever e with an imperfect. He was punished for succumbing to your lascivious corruption and soon you, temptress, will meet the same fate for tainting him with your vile venom. The ground you stand on will serve as your very tomb”

But careless of her own demise, Yoona weakly mumbles a strong defense, as she attempts a tone devoid of spite, “There is nothing evil about our love”

A whisper lost to the winds.

How did Seo speak with so much conviction without succumbing to the overcoming need to rip out their throats?

But they catch the feeble retort, and like a pack of hungry beasts, they gang up to take advantage of the lonely and wounded creature.

“She thinks they share love”, one mocks.

“Love is but a weak excuse to submit to sinful temptations”, another admonishes.

“Behold; the product of this ‘love’: A shameless mutt. That thing growing inside you is evil incarnate!”

But like a territorial mother to a threatened cub, she regains her voice at the mention of her child.

“Judge me however you want and punish me as you see fit, but do not decide my son’s fate so quickly. He has yet to even open his eyes yet you condemn him already. Since when did angels punish the innocent?”

“Innocent or not, allowing its existence would only serve to ruin the intricate balance the gods have weaved for all three realms. It cannot exist”

“This child IS the very embodiment of balance between our worlds”

“Which world would even accept its existence? Neither Hell nor Heaven serves as its rightful home. Where would it dwell?”, they mockingly scoff.

“The Underworld will accept him with open arms”

“Highly doubtful. Demons of different affinities can barely tolerate each other let alone a mongrel cross of light and dark”

“And who’s to say your clan won’t use it as a weapon against heaven? That child will be taught demonic ways, especially under your brother’s care.

“Allow me to raise him myself then. Here on Earth if you don’t want him in the Underworld”

“Impossible; immortals are forbidden to live in this realm. And you are nothing but a reflection of your brother; one abhorrent soul living in separate bodies…you cannot persuade this council to spare yours and that thing’s putrid existence”

“Then a compromise--“

“No”

“Like the one you offered Seo!”

“Enough! We don’t compromise with--“

“In his honor, at least hear my words!”

“This is senseless. Just kill her n--!“

“SILENCE”, Taeyeon suddenly interjects, effectively quieting all with his authority at the mention of his brother. He’s listened to this babble far too long.

With mighty arms crossed, he stares back at her sternly, waiting for her to speak up as she successfully picks up his cue.

For Seo…

This is her last chance.

“Just as you’ve offered Seo redemption...I ask for an exchange. My life for his child’s. I give myself willingly on the condition that this child lives; no more blood will be shed but mine”

In essence, Seo will live on…and so will she through him.

The angels stay mum, looking amongst each other in silent deliberation while Taeyeon continually stares at Yoona, as if trying to read her heart.

Finally uncrossing his arms, he delivers the final verdict.




“No”



“That child is too powerful to be nurtured in a divided realm. Like any human, it will succumb to both sin and virtue. I will not leave it to fate to decide its nature. I won’t risk the destruction of us all by keeping it alive”, Taeyeon justifies.

“But what if we were to take it? Let it grow under our wings? We can teach it to be righteous”, an angel suggests, seeking approval as he looks around for the council’s judgments. Sure enough, they start to murmur amongst each other, deep in contemplation.

“No, Let him grow on Earth where he will be impartial to all this folly”, Yoona opposes, utterly defiant.

The hypocrisy.

“You only seek to use my child as insurance against my own kind”

“You want it alive, do you not?”

“…He is the only thing I have of Seo…”

“Is this not how compromise works then? We sacrifice and you are expected to do the same? For you, it will live; for us, it will dwell in heaven to be raised in light”

“But wait; can we even find an angel willing to raise a demon child?”, another angel suddenly points out to her fellow kin. They stay quiet once again, bringing Yoona deeper and deeper into hopelessness.





“I will take him”





The mass of angels curiously part to reveal a familiar figure. With unmatched grace, she glides to Taeyeon’s side, locks of black hair freely trailing behind like weightless satin.

“I’ll do it”, Tiffany repeats, breaking eerie silence much to everyone’s surprise, especially Yoona’s.

Yoona looks up at the welcoming angel—the same angel who had tried to stand up for her and Seo—and trusting her instincts, she nods her head in somber approval.

If it means he will live.

After a glance at Tiffany, Taeyeon pauses for objections that never came.

“Then it’s settled”, he concludes.

If there is anybody he trusts in heaven to be the purest, it is Tiffany. She won’t fail to nurture his brother’s child into a being of goodness.

But did he not think the same about Seo?

“Your life for his”, Taeyeon announces in finality.

Taking his words as granted permission, Tiffany descends with two executioners at her sides. She touches the ground with the tips of her toes in fluid elegance before facing the dark princess.

Contrary to her grace were the strong but unsympathetic executioners, landing with a small quake as their towering frames made contact with the ground. Carrying swords of the same stature, they latch onto a respective wrist, forcibly driving Yoona onto her knees while their weapons, thick and sharp, awaits patiently to reap yet another life with one clean swipe as it traps her neck like a pair of scythes.

She kneels before Yoona, dropping herself on one knee as she tries to reestablish the brief but meaningful eye contact.

Self-consciously, the doomed princess almost unwillingly allows their eyes to lock once again, those same eyes piercing her once wicked soul. Yoona feels the gentle gaze graze her soul, as she suddenly feels bare, unworthy, in the presence of such a pure being.

Tiffany immediately plunges herself in red pools, perhaps darkened by the spectacle of so many deaths. But for once, Tiffany will wash Yoona’s eyes clean of her bleeding tears and allow her to witness a life being saved instead.

Placing a gentle palm on Yoona’s womb, her hand begins to glow when she begins her extraction while Yoona could only wince; not out of pain but at the surprise of her warming touch.

To her, rarely did angels send off such an open and nurturing aura…but she was different, much like Seo.

It was then Yoona knew her child would be in good hands.

The glowing light dimmed when Tiffany encloses it protectively into her palms, light escaping out the cracks between her fingers as the fragile and small soul, the size of a pearl, white and shiny like one, rests snugly in her palms, oblivious to the atrocities of the worlds.

“Take care of him…please”, Yoona says her final request. They were not pleading words shared between a subjugated demon and a mighty angel, a tormentor to a doomed prisoner, but a woman to another woman; perhaps even mother to a fellow mother.

Tiffany opens her hands, the light immediately escaping as she gazes with the same piercing orbs, reading and scanning the soul of the unborn child sleeping in the palms of her hands.

Then she encloses them again, shielding the child from the world as she looks at Yoona with parting reassurance.

“Your child is a girl. She will grow to be a beautiful maiden with features as pure as her father’s…but her eyes, she holds a powerful gaze. She had passionate eyes; your eyes. Do not worry; I will raise her like my own”

For once, throughout this entire ordeal, Yoona feels the world lift from her shoulders.

She can part in peace now and rejoin her love into the next cycle of life. She hopes—no, prays—that she will indeed be reunited with Seo into the next life, wishing that her memories stay just long enough so she can tell her soul mate how together, they once saved their first child.

But just as quickly as the world lifted from her shoulders, she feels the crashing weight of their swords, the world suddenly spilling red as blood stains every corner of her vision.

Yoona blinks, trying to clear and retain the once serene scene, but instead, she sees utter darkness.

Darkness in the form of her brother, Yuri stood over the dead bodies of the executioners, while Jessica chains the only living angel under her cold grip.

The King and Queen of the underworld stand beside Yoona in daunting glory, ready to protect their princess.

And behind them, stood the wrath and fury of hell’s own army.